County of Inyo

Board of Supervisors

Public Comment

The Chairperson announced that he had adjourned last week’s meeting in honor of the firefighters and volunteers who helped during last weeks Inyo Complex wildfire. He also recognized and thanked the volunteers who had helped deliver water in Independence. He went on to announce the public comment period and there was no one wishing to address the Board.

District-Indy Cemetery District Appointment

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to appoint Ms. Frieda LaCues to the Independence Cemetery District Board of Trustees, to complete an unexpired four-year term ending October 8, 2007 and a four-year-term beginning October 9, 2007 and ending October 8, 2011. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

District/B.P. Cemetery District Appointment

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to reappoint Mr. Robert Noel to the Big Pine Cemetery District Board of Trustees, to complete a four-year term ending May 31, 2011. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Auditor/PRM State Mandated Claims Contract

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to declare PRM as a sole source provider of State Mandated Cost Claim services and approve a Contract between the County of Inyo and PRM, Inc. for the preparation of the FY 2007-08 and 2008-09 SB90 State Mandated Costs Claims, for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009, in an amount not to exceed $31,675, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Auditor/Neeley Accountancy Corp. Audit Contract

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to declare Neely Accountancy Corp. a sole source provider of special district audit services and approve the Contract between the County of Inyo and Neely Accountancy Corp. for the special districts audit for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, in an amount not to exceed $20,000, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2007-08 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Child Support/ Print N Mail Contract

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to declare Print N Mail, Inc. a sole source provider for printing and mailing services and approve the Contract between the County of Inyo and Print N Mail, Inc., for the provision of printing and mailing services for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, in an amount not to exceed $10,000, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2007-08 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

HHS-Misc./Bishop Plaza Office Lease Estoppel Letter and Agreement

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the Estoppel Letter and Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreement between the County of Inyo and Bears Stearns Commercial Mortgage, Inc., in regards to the Bishop Plaza Shopping Center Health and Human Services Office Lease; and authorize the Chairperson to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

HHS-Mental Hlth. Serv./Office of Ed MOU Mental Health Services

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Inyo and the Inyo County Office of Education for the receipt of funds to provide Mental Health services to emotionally disabled children, for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008; and authorize the Director of Health and Human Services to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

HHS-Emergency Serv./ES Trust Fund Contracts

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the contracts between the County of Inyo and the following for projects to be funded through Emergency Services Medical Services Trust Fund #505107, for the period of July 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007, and authorize the Chairperson to sign: A) Southern Inyo Fire Protection District for EMT curriculum and certification in the amount of $4,000; B) Independence Volunteer Fire Department for emergency response equipment in the amount of $7,724.32; C) the Olancha Cartago Fire Department for emergency response equipment in the amount of $4,800; and D) the Lone Pine Fire Department for emergency response equipment in the amount of $7,806. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

P.W./Tri-State Surveying Contract

Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the Contract between the County of Inyo and Tri-State Surveying for the provision of County Surveyor Services for the period of July 17, 2007 through June 30, 2009, in an amount not to exceed $40,000, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign, contingent upon the appropriate signatures being obtained. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

County Dept. Reports

The Deputy County Administrator, Mr. Chuck Hamilton, informed the Board that the tub grinder, which was utilized at the Bishop Sunland Landfill and provided the woodchips for dust mitigation at the Lone Pine Landfill has been destroyed in a fire. He reminded the Board that they had earlier this year authorized Integrated Waste Management to seek bids for the replacement of the chipper, which should be returned for Board consideration in the near future. He also notified the Board that he has notified Great Basin of this latest glitch in the County’s efforts to mitigate the dust at the Lone Pine Landfill. Mr. Ron Chegwidden, Public Works Director, notified the Board that the temporary water tanks to supply water to the Independence Town Water System were here and should be on line by Thursday or Friday of this week. He and the Chairperson acknowledged and thanked DWP for their help in restoring potable water to the Town. The Agricultural Commissioner requested that since the Crop Report was not agendized for today’s meeting he would like to present it during the County Department Reports portion of the meeting. County Counsel advised the Board that while the report could be presented and reported on by the Agricultural Commissioner, the Board, because of the Brown Act, would be unable to actually participate in any discussion of the report. The Agricultural Commissioner presented the Board with copies of this year’s Crop Report and briefly reviewed the statistics contained in the Report. The Chairperson requested that the Crop Report be agendized in August in order to provide the Board the opportunity to discuss the Report.

Ag. Comm./Public Hearing Mosquito Abatement Benefit Assessment

The Chairperson opened the public hearing at 9:20 a.m., on the proposed continuation of the assessments for the “Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program Assessment” and the “Mosquito Control and Disease Prevention Assessment” to receive public input on the proposed continuation of the assessment, the proposed assessment budget for FY 2007-08 and the services and programs, the assessments fund and any other issues related to the assessment. The Agricultural Commissioner, Mr. George Milovich, introduced a representative of SCI Consulting, which is the entity that prepared the Engineer’s Reports on the Assessments, who addressed the Board to provide a brief overview of the Program and the assessments. There was no one from the public wishing to address this issue and the Chairperson closed the public hearing at 9:26 a.m.

Resol. #2007-34/ Mosquito Abatement Benefit Assessment

On a motion by Supervisor Cash and a second by Supervisor Arcularius, Resolution No. 2007-34 entitled “A Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program Approving the Engineer’s Reports, Confirming the Assessment Diagram and Assessment and Ordering the Levy of Assessments for Fiscal Year 2007-08 for the Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program (Assessment No. 1) and for the Mosquito Control and Disease Prevention Assessment (Assessment No. 2),” was approved: motion unanimously passed and adopted, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Integ. Waste/So. County Solid Waste Operations

Mr. Chuck Hamilton, Deputy County Administrator, reviewed the information provided concerning the solid waste operations in south County. He explained that to aid in the Board’s evaluation of the cost to provide solid waste services in south County, he had provide additional information correlating the costs of services provided in north vs. south County on a per capita basis. Ms. Anne Bramhall and Ms. Sherry Cosgrove, Keeler Residents, addressed the Board to support leaving the operations as is and leaving the dumpsters in place. Both ladies said that the federal agencies in the area had indicated to members of the public their willingness to help the County find a solution to the south County waste operations costs.

The Board clarified that while these agencies appear to be talking with members of the public concerning their willingness to participate in solutions, the only formal information the County has received is a letter for the Regional BLM Office saying that the County would be “ill advised” to remove the dumpster from south County.

Supervisor Cash thanked Mr. Hamilton for the per capita information explaining that her analysis of the difference reflects only about $24,000 difference between what the north County residents contribute and the south County residents don’t contribute to the Integrated Waste Management budget and that she was not sure this amount was significant enough to actually pursue the alternative of removing the dumpsters. Supervisor Cervantes reiterated his position that no changes be made to the south County hauling operations and reported that Stovepipe Wells is centrally located to those areas being effected by the proposed changes and has a facility that could accommodate the meeting. He provided the Clerk of the Board with the contact information. He also informed the Board that his constituents have expressed a desire to have the meeting take place in the fall after it cools down and that the meeting be held in the early evening to allow those who work and have to travel the opportunity to participate. Supervisor Cervantes made a motion, which was not seconded to table this matter. The motion failed on a roll-call vote, with Supervisor Cervantes voting yes, and with Supervisors Arcularius, Cash and Bilyeu voting no. The Board and Staff continued to discuss the draft agenda for the community meeting concerning south County solid waste operations.

Supervisor Bilyeu expressed a desire to ensure that if the meeting is conducted that there are specific alternatives that can be discussed, saying that he wanted to see at least seven concrete methods of reducing costs for solid waste operations in south County on the Agenda for the meeting. Supervisor Arcularius supported having the community meeting in order to provide the federal agencies and the public that have volunteered to help solve the problem, the opportunity to participate in finding alternatives to eliminating the free dumpsters and replacing them with curb-side services in south County.

The Board and Staff continued to discuss the proposed meeting, with the Board tentatively calendaring the meeting for October 4, 2007, at Stovepipe Wells, beginning at 5:00 p.m., with direction to the Clerk to make the necessary arrangements. The Board went on to discuss the notification process for this meeting. Supervisor Cervantes expressed his opinion that it is incumbent upon the Board to ensure that each and every individual effected by the proposed change is notified of the meeting. Several Board Members expressed individually and collectively that they were unwilling to change the notification process, with Supervisor Cash saying its not about keeping the public uninformed it’s about using the most efficient manner that meets the criteria of the law and she believes that is what the Board does through their Agenda publication process. The Board explained that the publication of the Agenda is the manner in which the Board has and does notify the public of those issues under their jurisdiction and setting a different expectation of notification on this matter then sets up the expectation that every item on the Agenda each week would require the same notification. The Board also identified the outstanding “word of mouth network” in the region, which they feel will also help facilitate the notification process.

The Board directed Integrated Waste Management Staff to (a) come back for further discussions before that meeting with recommendations for specific solutions, i.e., removal of the service to be replaced by curbside service; an assessment on the tax bill; the formation of a CSA, and anything else staff feels is a solution to the problem that the people at the meeting can review, and (b) to have discussions with the various federal agencies to find out what “we’re willing to help” really means.

BofS/Minute Approval

Moved by Supervisor Cash and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the minutes of the Board of Supervisors Meetings of A) June 26, 2007 and B) July 3, 2007. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Recess/ Reconvene

The Chairperson recessed the regular meeting at 10:40 a.m., to reconvene at 11:05 a.m., with all Board Members present, except Supervisor Brown.

Water/Integrated Regional Water Management Plans

Mr. Tom Brooks, Water Director, made a presentation on how Integrated Regional Water Management Plans (IRWMPs) can be used by the County to apply for State grant funding. At the conclusion of his presentation, the Board and Mr. Brooks discussed the development of a Plan, with Supervisor Arcularius clarifying that she was not in favor of developing a project just to satisfy funding. The discussion included (a) identifying what a region is; (b) the need to identify a consultant to come in and help in the identification process; (c) identifying stakeholders; (d) working with DWP to see if they are also interested in developing an IRWMP; (e) seeking pre-planning analysis and grant application pre-planning grants through the Sierra Nevada Conservancy; and (f) bringing the different pieces of the controlling documents effecting the Owens Valley watershed into a coherent plan to provide for an organized means to move forward. Mr. Brooks said that he is wanting to approach the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to find out what their requirements are and bring those back with an update for the Board for further consideration. Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Cervantes to authorize Staff to have discussions with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy as to what their requirements would be for any future application for pre-planning and to have discussions with LADWP to inform them of our desire to consider a Regional Management Plan. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Water/IMP Amendment #2

Mr. Tom Brooks, Water Director, reviewed the proposed amendment to the Interim Management Plan. Moved by Supervisor Cash and seconded by Supervisor Cervantes to approve the Amendment #2 to the Interim Management Plan adding Well 247 and Well 377 to the exempt well list to supply existing mitigation projects, and add Wells 376 and 399 to the exempt well list to supply existing re-vegetation projects; and authorize the Chair to sign. Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Brown absent.

Board Members and Staff Reports

The Board Members reported on their activities during the preceding week, including a Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Meeting; the Junior Livestock Auction, notification that the posted Speed Limit on US Highway 395 in front of the Highlands Mobile Home Park is being reduced to 35 mph, and an update on the damage assessment for the fire areas.

Closed Session

The Chairperson recessed open session at 12:20 p.m., to convene in closed session with all Board Members present except Supervisor Brown to consider Agenda Item 16. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION [Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) ] Sierra Club v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power , Inyo County Superior Court Case No. SICVCV01-29768 (1).

Report on Closed Session

The Chairperson recessed closed session at 1:00 p.m., to reconvene in open session to receive a report on closed session. County Counsel reported there were no items discussed in closed session, which were required by law to be reported on in open session.

Adjournment

The Chairperson adjourned the regular meeting at 1:00 p.m., to 9:00 a.m., August 7, 2007, in the Board of Supervisors Room, at the County Administrative Center in Independence.